"Bekim Fehmiu", post mortem for Abdurrahman Shala as an icon and inspiration

He was one of the main images of the films that were produced in these parts in the second half of the last century. Post-mortem, on Thursday night, Abdurrahman Shala was honored with the national lifetime achievement award "with the hope that new generations of actors and filmmakers will find inspiration from his works". But an example of the new generation of filmmakers is director Blerta Basholli, who received the annual Cinematography Award. The whole world heard about "Zgjoi", under her direction

For his extraordinary contribution to cinematography both in the country and outside of Kosovo, the Ministry of Culture has post-mortemly honored the actor Abdurrahman Shala with the "Bekim Fehmiu" national lifetime achievement award. Since the 50s, Shala was engaged in film projects. It is one of the main images of Kosovo films during the last century. And for the film "Zgjoi", which has received attention in the four corners of the world, the annual award for cinematography was given to the director Blerta Basholli.

Through a ceremony held at "Kino Armatë", the state distributed the awards on the very day of the birth of the actor from Kosovo, who became one of the world stars of the film, Bekim Fehmiu. The main prize is named after him. This year's ceremony - among the best organized in recent years - started with the performance of the "Siparantum" choir. The choir, which last year and this year has scored a number of international successes, at the very beginning of the ceremony performed the work "Pax" by Memli Kelmendi and then continued with a labe melody, where Sead Muqa played the clarinet.

Then the ceremony continued with the distribution of prizes. Before handing over the annual award for cinematography, Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that during the past year, but also during this year, Kosovo's cinematography reached the highest peaks it has ever reached.

"The international representation all over the planet, the extraordinary and countless awards won, reminded us once again that we have talent at home and that we must work with it and for it. So here's a tip for all of us: talent without work is almost nothing. Only great and continuous work will reveal new horizons of our talents", he said. According to Kurt, the duty of the state is to nurture this talent, to open and facilitate the paths to success, to support, not only after they reap success.

He mentioned two agreements for cinematographic co-production, the one with Israel and with France. According to him, these agreements pave the way and offer opportunities for new productions, which means more financing, more exchange of experiences, styles and filmmaking techniques.

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"Our Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports is currently working on the Law on cinematography, which will be forwarded for discussion in the Assembly of Kosovo. So, there will be many other reliefs for the film industry. With the announcement of the film as our special state interest, attention and importance will be given to the process of making the film in the country", he said.

MKRS, according to the plans it had, had to introduce the Draft Law on cinematography to the Government since last year. But such a thing did not happen.

"Here I can't without mentioning the women who are the name of our success, of Kosovo. And we've seen this in movies, we've seen it in painting, we've seen it in music everywhere. We have seen this in the poems of young poets, but we are also seeing this in science and sports. We are here for nothing else, only to work to make your imagination a reality for all of us", said Kurti, who then presented the director, Blerta Basholli, with the annual award for cinematography.

According to the reasoning of the jury, the annual Cinematography Award was given to Basholli for the extraordinary success of her debut feature film, "Wake Up".

"Appreciated and awarded internationally, including the three main awards at Sundance 2021, 'Woke up' once again drew the world's attention to the painful part of Kosovo's history, promoting cinematography and our country through distribution on all continents," the rationale reads. of the jury consisting of Blerta Zeqiri, Ujkan Hysaj, Alush Gashi, Veton Nurkollari and Bardh Rugova. According to the jury, in 2021, Blerta Basholli was an example for directors, especially for young directors, how with dedication and vision, the isolation of filmmakers can be challenged and penetrate the most prestigious world film circles.

Basholli said that this award is not only hers, but the whole team's.

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"When we talk about successes and inspiration in cinematography, we talk about very big foreign figures. But for me, my local colleagues, like Blerta Zeqiri, who went to 'Sundance' before us, are my inspiration", said Basholli. She wished that institutions and filmmakers work together to move the film industry forward.

"We need the Law on cinematography and financial facilities. We have many talents, many good stories", she said.

Then during the ceremony, the Minister of Culture, Hajrulla Çeku, presented the "Bekim Fehmiu" lifetime achievement award to the Shala family, as a post-mortem tribute to the actor Abdurrahman Shala. Genc Shala, the actor's grandson, accepted the award on behalf of the family.

KOHA has learned that the family will donate the financial value of the prize, which is 5 thousand euros, to charity. Genc Shala thanked the Ministry of Culture and said that Abdurrahman Shala (1922-1994) wanted to make the film city on the outskirts of Pristina. According to the reasoning of the jury, since his first important role, that of Major Demir in the film "Captain Lleshi in 1960, continuing with the films "Kozara" and "Uka i Bjeshkeve te Nemuna", as well as with the roles in the films war epics, such as "The Battle of Neretva" and "Sutjeska", where he played alongside famous actors of that time, including Orson Welles, and even roles in the Kosovar films "How to die", "Era and Lisi", "Proka ” and “Man of the Earth”, Shala has created an almost incomparable artistic opus in the history of Kosovar cinematography.

"There is no important film of that time period in which Shala did not have a role. His last role was that of Zekir in Milcho Manchevski's 'Before the Rain', a film that won the 'Golden Lion' at the Venice Film Festival in 1994 and was nominated for an 'Oscar' in 1995," the statement reads. of the jury. Shala has also been appreciated for his contribution to the establishment of institutions such as "KosovaFilmi", of which he was the first director.

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"Considering all this and realizing the greatness and uniqueness of a man and artist like Addurrahman Shala, the jury is unanimous in its opinion to award the Lifetime Achievement Award post-mortem always with the hope that the new generations of actors and filmmakers will to find inspiration from his works", is written in the reasoning of the jury.

Last year, the "Bekim Fehmiu" award was given to director of photography Afrim Spahiu, while the annual award for cinematography was awarded to director More Raça. The latter has a financial value of 2500 euros. Wednesday's ceremony was closed with the performance of the "Siparantum" choir.